BACKGROUND:
Gastrointestinal infection is known as a risk factor for the development of the irritable bowel syndrome (post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome, PI-IBS). The incidence of PI-IBS ranges between 3% and over 30% of people after infectious gastroenteritis.

AIM:
To perform a meta-analysis pools and report data concerning the relative risk (RR) of PI-IBS after TD.

METHODS:
Database search using Medline through PubMed, Scopus, EBM Reviews (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews) and PsycINFO was performed to identify relevant studies. Those that met the inclusion criteria were pooled. A random effects model (Mantel-Haenszel) was performed.

RESULTS:
Six eligible studies were found. In three of six studies, the authors reported a statistically significant association of TD and PI-IBS. The pooled RR was 3.35 (95% CI: 2.22-5.05) with a significant overall effect (P < 0.00001). Overall PI-IBS incidence was 5.4% in TD subjects and 1.4% in healthy subjects. There was no significant heterogeneity within the pooled studies (I2 = 5%). Self-reported TD alone resulted in an over 1.5-fold RR for PI-IBS compared to laboratory-confirmed TD [RR 3.90 (95% CI: 2.35-6.49) vs. RR 2.42 (95% CI: 1.22-4.78)].

CONCLUSIONS:
There is a strong association between travellers' diarrhoea and post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome. Self-reports of exposure seem to result in a higher post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome occurrence than laboratory-confirmed cases of travellers' diarrhoea, but further studies are needed to confirm this finding. Finally, potential influences of the selection of an appropriate study population on post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome epidemiology are discussed.